Search This Blog

Peach cobbler ice cream and fireworks

Yesterday for the actual 4th of July, I had a really relaxing day at home. When we have big family get-togethers for the 4th at the lakehouse, we usually make peach ice cream (with fresh SC peaches!) in our big old-fashioned churn. This year, however, we decided to try out a new soft-serve ice cream maker we received as a gift.

The first batch was a big ol’ fail. I don’t think the metal bucket was cold enough when we started, so the ice cream never really set up. The second batch, however, was nice and ice creamy. We used our usual peach ice cream recipe, but I wanted to jazz it up. I crunched up and added some of these Goldfish cinnamon grahams, hoping for a nod to peach cobbler or pie…

…and I threw together some bourbon toffee pecans and walnuts to add to the mix (white and brown sugars, sour cream, salt, vanilla, bourbon, chopped pecans and walnuts).

(cropping it close because the full batch looks like a pile of vomit…ew). The first soupy batch might not have been of ideal consistency, but it sure tasted good! I wish I had left out the walnuts, though – they were a little bitter).

For dinner, I made patriotic burgers – red meat, bleu cheese…and the white cheese that holds the “bleu” together. I also grilled some asparagus and topped the burgers with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar and had romaine lettuce on the side. I guess I could consider the onions white…to begin with.

After dinner, I headed down to the dock with my trusty tripod (I’ll admit it was a bit dumb to put a tripod, whose sole responsibility is to keep the camera stationary, on a floating dock; however, there weren’t too many waves last night) and took some pictures of fireworks.

Clemson colors!!

I still need a bunch of practice with my night photography…it’s so hard to focus when you can’t see anything to focus on! And there were so many people shooting off fireworks in my cove, I was getting whiplash trying to see them all!

I had a leftover burger for lunch, and it was even better the second time around.

Did you see any fireworks shows this weekend? Have you ever made homemade ice cream? What’s your favorite flavor, either to eat or make?

Popular Posts

We had a few friends over for Halloween and enjoyed some naughty treats. I made Candy Corn Jell-o Shots:Dirt cake with gummy snakes:Mummy dogs (I left out the cheese, and I should’ve cut their poor little arms a little longer):Pumpkin seed brittle:made from these guys’ innards:Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing:And of course we played Cards Against Humanity, as we do at all our social gatherings.So after the debauchery of this weekend, we’re getting back to basics with our cooking. I was a bottomless pit yesterday, and I know it’s because my body was so out of whack from the crap I fed it Friday (and some leftovers Saturday). It’s insane how “hungover” I feel after eating the wrong things (carby, salty, sugary, gluteny things). Today I was achy, puffy, depressed, and irritable among a host of other unsavory characteristics. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and take a small shot of it when faced with making poor eating decisions. I might make wiser choices if I could m…

This cute blue stone crock I just got from World Market makes everything taste better, not that my gumbo needed it, in my humble opinion. Sunday was spent taking down Christmas decorations and packing them all away. I’ve been bitten by the organizational bug lately, for better or worse, and am committed to getting rid of clutter and finding an appropriate place for everything. It felt good to take 4 giant boxes of stuff to Goodwill and finally get them out from under my nose – I’ve been working on those boxes for weeks!My eating habits were stellar last week, which makes my actions this past weekend all the more troubling. I pretty much binged on chocolate and ice cream Sunday evening – a rebound effect from eating sensibly during the week? A cry for help due to self-pity and loneliness? I have no idea, but I’ve journaled about it and hope to nip it in the bud next time I see myself headed in that direction. I did have wine Saturday night at a friend’s house and ended up eating…

After a nice walk at the park with the dude and dog……we went and bought ALL THE THINGS at the grocery store. It helps so much with both budget and diet when we make a big grocery trip at the beginning of the week.And that was probably half of it. For dinner tonight, I sautéed some onions and garlic with some yellow cherry tomatoes (they explode in then pan!) and added steam-in-bag green beans and balsamic vinegar.We had that alongside some leftover broccoli, some collards I cooked all afternoon, and steak with horseradish sauce while we watched We Are the Millers – pretty funny albeit predictable.I didn’t quite get everything done today that I’d hoped, but I still feel pretty accomplished. I got a giant pile of clothes put away and some arm-strengthening exercises done. Nothing brag-worthy though, so I’m going to write up an actual to-do list for this week so I can cross things off. I do so much better when I have a plan to stick to!